Dual door control



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DUAL DOOR CONTROL Filed Nov. 5, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l l v a5 g J Iii:-

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/ AT ORNEWX W. H. FLEWELL DUAL DOOR CONTROL March 7, 1933.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov 3, 1930 ATTORNEY? Patented Mar. 7, 1933 WALTER H; FLEWELL, or sroux cIrY, IOWA DUAL DOOR CONTROL Application filed November 3, 1930., Serial No. 493,006.

My invention relates to mechanism for linking the double doors of an inclosure, such as for instance, a garage building, whereby pulling or pushing upon one door will simultaneously'open or close both doors.

An object of the present invention is to embody, together with mechanism for linking the two doors, means for latching the mechanism in either of two positions, in one of which the doors are held closed and in the other of which the doors are held open. Thus my invention contemplates doing away with ordinary latching devices and substituting therefor latching mechanism embodied in the linking structure connecting the doors.

Another objectof the invention is .to provide an arrangement including a handlemounted on one ofthe doors on the outside thereof, wherewith the operator may either 0 push or pull the door, together with means connecting said handle to the latching mech anism embodied in the door linking structure, whereby said latching mechanism may be operated by a pull upon the handle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure having the above features and which is of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction. A further object of the present invention is do to provide a door operating structure which can be readily attached to a previously exist ent garage or buildingstructure of present day common construction.

Another object-of the invention is to provide for universal adjustment of the mechanism to fit building structures of various dimensions.

The invention is carried out in a general way by the employment of a knuckle, cona pair of bars, one extending to each door and pivoted thereto, and slidably mounted on a rail mounted medially between thetwo W doors; In order .to obtain universal mounting of the rail, I provide a novel hangar having a slidable connection with the rail and including an arm to be secured to one of the of'the rail. The rail is hung from the horiusual cross joists in a garage building.

Other objects. of the invention are to provide for adjustment of the latching devices in which:

nected to the plural doors of the building by so that the positionsin which the doors latch may be varied and for adjusting the connec tionsbetweenthe doors and the knuckle so that-the positions of the two doors relative to each other may be varied. r

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in' the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view ofportions of a garage building embodying myinvention, Fig. 2 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line '22 of Fig. 1, and illustrating the latch bolt, V I

Fig. 3 is a detail, sectional viewthrough the rail and rail hangar,

Fig. 4 is a detail, sectional view on the line 4.-4 of Fig. 1, I j i Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional'view of the garage building taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the garage building with the doors closed,

Fig. 7 "s a detail, sectional view, enlarged, of a portion ofthe mechanism shown in 5 e H $9 Fig. 8 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 5, and 7 Fig. 9 is a detail, sectional view on the line 99 of Fig. 5. I The ordinary garage building includes the roof 10, the door casing 11, the side walls 12, and joists 13 which extend transversely of the building substantially in the plan where the side walls meet the roof. In order to avoid confusion in the drawings, only a few of the elements of construction of the garage are illustrated. I

I provide a rail 14 of I beam construction, having the upper and lower flanges 15 and 16. The web 17 ofthe rail is cut away as at 18 to allow a bolt'19'to pass through the flanges I zontal member of the casing 11 by means of the 1 bolt 19 which is extended upwardly through the casing member 11 and secured as by a nut 20.

The rail is supported intermediate its ends by the hangar 21, which is C shaped in crosssection as shown in Fig. 3, and which has an upwardly projecting arm 22 provided with a plurality of openings 23, through which a bolt 24 is extended. The bolt 24 is extended through a suitable opening provided for at one of the joists 13, and through that opening 23 which most closely approaches the center of the joists 13 when the rail 14 is positioned horizontally with its forward end hung .below the casing member 11.

Since the joists 13 will vary in height relative the casing member 11, the extended arm 22 provided with a plurality of openings 23 becomes useful in adjustingthe hangar to the joists.

In the same way, since the joists vary in their position longitudinally of the garage building, the hangar may be slid longitudinally of the rail, the upper flange 15 of which it receives, in order to adjust the hangar to the possition of the joists.

The knuckle comprises a slide, 25, C shaped in cross-section, receiving the lower flange 16 of the rail, and welded or riveted to a cross-arm 26 which provides a pair of projecting ears to which the door connecting bars 27 are pivoted.

The door connecting bars 27 are pivotd at 28 to the cross-bar 26, and are pivoted by means of a bolt or the like, 29, to brackets 30 secured to the doors 31 as shown.

A plurality of openings 32 in the brackets 30 provide for adjustment of the pivotal connection of the bars 27 with the doors. This is quite important when it is considered that the average garage doors are provided with overlapping flanges 33 and that the door which has the inner flange must close slightly ahead of the door which has the outer flange in order that there may be no binding between the flanges.

The latch bolt is shown in Figure 2, and comprises an arm 34, to which is secured, by means of a pair of nuts 35 and 36, a lever 37 extending through an opening 38 in one of the bars 27. The nut 36 is rounded to provide a fulcrum member to bear easily against the bar 27 and to allow the arm 34 to tilt. The opening 38 is sufficiently wide to allow the lever 37 to swing in the opening.

To prevent the arm 34 from rotating around the axis of the lever 37, I provide a pair of guide fingers 39, preferably formed integrally with the arm 34, and receiving between them an intermediate portion of the bar 27.

On the end of the arm 34 opposite the guide fingers 39, is formed a latch hook 40, which is positioned directly above the pivot 23 connecting the bar 27 to the cross-bar 26. Thus the hook of the latch is positionedat all times at the same distance from the center of the rail 14, no matter what may be the angularity of the bar 27. This is a very important feature of the invention, since it makes it possible to latch the mechanism at either one of two remote positions.

I provide a pair of keepers 41. and 42, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 4. The keeper is formed of a plate of sheet metal, one side of which is bent back on itself to form a hook 43 receiving one side of the upper flange of the rail, and the other side of vwhich is extended beyond the upper flange of the rail and secured thereto by a bolt 44 extended through the keeper and engaging beneath the rail flange. The head of the bolt engages the rail flange and the bolt itself does not pass through the flange. It will thus be seen that the keeper can be slid longitudinally of therail so as to adjust it previously to the exact position desired. It will also be readily seen that the position of the keeper on the rail determines the position in which the doors will be latched.

One corner of the projecting portion of the keeper is turned up as at 45 to provide an inclined surface beneath which the latch hook 40 may ride. By reference to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the upturned corners of the keepers are disposed facing each other. The latch hook thus engages behind the far edges of the respective keepers and when hooked behind the keeper 41, holds the doors closed, while when hooked behind the keeper 42, it holds the doors open.

The weight of the arm 34 and the fingers 39 over-balances the weight of the shorter portion of the arm 34 and the hook 40, so that the latch tends to gravitate toward latched position.

This tendency is overcome by pulling against the lever 37, and to this end I provide a rod 46, linked to the lever, slidably supported in a yoke 48 secured to the bar 27, and attached to its other end to a chain 49 extending through a pulley 50 hung from the bar 27, and secured at its lower end to the lever portion 51 of the control handle 52.

The control handle 52 is pivoted at 53 in a bracket 54 secured to that door which is connected to the latch bearing bar 27. The lever 51 projects through a suitable opening 54a provided for it in the door.

The lower end of the handle 52 is extended inwardly to form a portion 55 to rest against the door while the handle portion is spaced from the door, and a hasp 56 is provided, adapted to extend across and engage the portion 55, and to be located in that position by a padlock 57.

Thus the handle 52 serves the triple object of providing a hand handle by means of which the door may be pulled open, of releasing the latch, and of locking the mechanism so that the doors cannot be opened.

A stop 58, shown in detail in Fig. 9, engages the crossbar 26 when the doors are open, to prevent the doors swinging beyond a predetermined open position. The stop 58 comprises a pair of plates secured against the edges of the flanges of the rail by bolts 59 extending between them and thus may be adjusted longitudinally of the rail. v

Movement is transmitted from the door which has the handle to theknuckle, which is freely slidable on the rail, and thence back to the other door.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably ineluded within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with abuilding structure provided with dual doors mounted for opening movement in opposite directions, a rail attached to the building structure and supported in a position parallel to and near the horizontal plane of the upper edges of the door, and perpendicular'to the plane of the doors when closed, a knuckle slidably attached to the rail, a pair of bars each pivoted at one end to the knuckle and at itsother end to a respective door whereby one door when moved will transmit similar movement to the other, and latch devices attached to one of the bars and to the rail respectively for securing the doors in certain positions, the latch element on the bar including an engaging portion which is co-axial with the pivot between its bar and the knuckle.

2. In combination with'a building structure provided with dual doors mounted for opening movement in opposite directions, a rail attached to the building structure and supported in a position parallel to and near the horizontal plane of the upper edges of the door, and perpendicular to the plane of the doors when closed, a knuckle slidably attached to the rail, a pair of bars each pivoted at one end to the knuckle and at itsother end to a respective door whereby one door when moved will transmit similar movement to the other, latch devices attached to one of the bars and to the rail respectively for securing the doors in certain positions, the latch element on the bar including an engaging portion which is co-axial with the pivot between its bar and the knuckle, and means attached to the latch element on the bar and extending through the door for conveying movement to said latch element.

3. In combination with a building structure provided with dual doors mounted for opening movement in opposite directions, an I beam shaped rail supported by the building structure in a position adjacent the horizontal plane of-the upper edges of the doors, perpendicular to the plane of the doors when closed, and substantially centered between the doors, a keeper including a hook engaging one side of one flange of the rail and a securing element engaging the other side of said flange and door connecting means including a knuckle slidably mounted on the other flange of the rail, a pair of bars each pivoted at one end to said knuckle and at its other end to a respective door, and a latch element mounted on the door connecting mechanism and positioned to engage said keeper, the engagement of the securing element being such as to allow the keeper to be adjusted to different positions on the rail.

4. In combination with a building structure provided with dual doors mounted for opening movement in opposite directions, a rail attached to the building structure and supported in a position parallel to and near the horizontal plane of the upper edges of the door, said rail provided with adjustable means for adjusting its height vertically with respect to the horizontal beams in the building structure and said rail perpendicular to the plane of the doors when closed, a knuckle slidably attached to the rail, a pair of bars each pivoted at one end to the knuckle and at its other end to a respective door whereby one door when moved will transmit similar movement to the other, and latch devices attached to one of the bars and to the rail respectively for securing the doors in certain positions, the latch element on the bar including an engaging portion which is 'co-axial with the pivot between the bar and the knuckle.

Signed at Sioux City this 20th :day of October, 1930.

. WALTER H. FLEWELL. 

